Three Stars: Choucair, Orgnero, Heim earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Suekiana Choucair is the MacEwan Athletics first star of the week after a four-point weekend in leading the Griffins to two road victories in B.C.
Choucair had a goal and three assists in leading the Griffins to wins over Trinity Western and UFV last Friday and Saturday.
Other athletes recognized this week include second star Everett Orgnero of the men's soccer team and third star Sandy Heim of the women's hockey team
This is the first appearance of the 2018-19 season for all three student-athletes.
1st star: Suekiana Choucair, M, women's soccer
Edmonton, AB, fourth-year, Science
The fourth-year midfielder, who takes the majority of MacEwan's free kicks and corner kicks, factored in four of the Griffins' six goals during a massive six-point road weekend in B.C., recording a goal and three assists.
Against U SPORTS No. 1 Trinity Western on Friday, Choucair opened the scoring in the 45th minute when her 23-yard free kick from just outside the box deflected off the wall and past goalkeeper Rachel Sydor.
In the 53rd minute, Choucair's free kick went off the crossbar and landed for Brittany Costa to put in and give MacEwan a 2-0 advantage.
Against UFV on Saturday, Choucair set up two of the Griffins' three goals in a 10-minute span in the first half. She placed a 20th-minute corner kick purposely past the box for Jamie Erickson to volley in. Then, in the 26th minute, she set up Sarah Riddle for the Griffins' third goal.
After a four-point weekend, Choucair now leads the Griffins with five points in six games.
MacEwan (4-1-1) will host Victoria (4-3-0) on Friday and UBC (5-2-0) on Sunday.
2nd star: Everett Orgnero, F, men's soccer
Calgary, AB, first-year, Arts
The rookie striker's scoring tear continued with a flourish during a road weekend to B.C.
With three goals in a pair of tough losses, Orgnero has now scored in four-straight games and has five goals over that span.
During a 3-2 loss at UBC-Okanagan on Friday, he was a handful for the Heat, accounting for half of MacEwan's shots on net (4), while scoring in the 15th and 47th minutes. Both were beautiful strikes set up by teammate Christian Hernandez.
He then opened the scoring against UBC on Saturday, tallying in the 6th minute with a long-range strike to the top corner.
Orgnero is now tied for third in Canada West scoring with eight points in nine games. He's also second in the rookie scoring race. Additionally, his five goals are tied for fourth-best in the conference (and third amongst rookies).
Although MacEwan still has five regular season games remaining – including their final home matches this weekend (Saturday vs. Saskatchewan and Sunday vs. Lethbridge), Orgnero has already broken the school record for most goals in a Canada West season. His mark of five goals passes the previous record of four, twice reached by former Griffins player Lahai Mansaray.
Everett Orgnero, shown against MRU earlier this season, has five goals in his past four games (Chris Piggott photo).
3rd star: Sandy Heim, G, women's hockey
Wilderswill, SUI, fourth-year, Accounting/Strategic Measurement
Picking up where she left off after leading the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team to its second-straight ACAC Championship last March, Heim was sterling in the crease during a weekend preseason road trip to Calgary.
Up against a solid Canada West opponent Mount Royal University in back-to-back games, Heim recorded a weekend save percentage of .964 as the Griffins split the series.
In Friday's opener, Heim stopped 20 of 21 shots as the Griffins won 2-1.
In Saturday's rematch, she made 34 saves on 35 shots against in a 1-0 loss.
Heim and the rest of the Griffins conclude the preseason with a solid 4-2-1 record and now get set for their ACAC regular season opener on Oct. 5 vs. SAIT (7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena).
Sandy Heim stopped 54 of 56 shots in a weekend split against Mount Royal University (Matthew Jacula photo).
